Is My School Allowed to Do This?
- Thread starter Heartcafe
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yes to initial question, no to the EDIT question. My school did the same thing, it makes sense. The school has every right to control what it's computers and it's internet is used for. However, teachers have no right to punish students by invading their privacy by searching through their fb pages.Heartcafe said:
Is it really that hard to stay off facebook? Long description short, like others have said yes the school can monitor your computer. The owner of the network (the school in this case) has full rights to all connections. Someone pointed out that it's your computer. Doesn't mean anything. Network owner rights still hold. This is something you better get used to now. People get fired all the time for "network abuse", doing things they shouldn't have on the company network, this goes for remote connections too. If you remote in from home with your own computer and do something that violates their policy they can fire you.
Yep it's standard for universities, schools and colleges to do this. In fact my secondary school would (in exchange for keeping the laptop registered with them) scan and do basic software repairs.sms_117b said:
I don't think stuff like that is anything new - they monitored internet access back when I was at secondary school years ago.
Also I cant say I see a problem?
They are not monitoring your internet access in your free time, they are only making sure you are behaving sensibly and doing your work whilst at school.
And it shouldn't make any difference whatsoever if you argue that you should be able to use your own laptop and not be monitored, the fact remains that you are at school and should be working. And its not that bad, admittedly I'm just speculating now, but when I was at school in IT lessons once you finished your work they then let you mess around on games etc.
I'm sure it'll be the same in the workplace, I would assume they monitor your internet access there as well so I can't see what the big deal is.
Also I cant say I see a problem?
They are not monitoring your internet access in your free time, they are only making sure you are behaving sensibly and doing your work whilst at school.
And it shouldn't make any difference whatsoever if you argue that you should be able to use your own laptop and not be monitored, the fact remains that you are at school and should be working. And its not that bad, admittedly I'm just speculating now, but when I was at school in IT lessons once you finished your work they then let you mess around on games etc.
I'm sure it'll be the same in the workplace, I would assume they monitor your internet access there as well so I can't see what the big deal is.
They are probably allowed to...but it certainly isn't right. Good news though, they aren't allowed to use your laptop to spy on you when you're at home. One school did that, they got crucified.
However, I will say this, they certainly have a right to control traffic on their network, especially since you get access for free. But having you "register" your personal laptop, which I assume means install spying software on it, well, that seems unnecessary and quite honestly, intrusive. It's pretty simple to set up OpenDNS to block access to certain sites on your network, and you don't need special software to do it, other than the firmware that's already on their network routers. Their IT guy can certainly figure out how to do that. Schools and industries should stop using overly complex software, and realize there are often simpler ways of doing things. For instance, you don't need complex third-party software to stop people from saving things to a public computer, especially when Microsoft already offers software that does just that. It's called Windows Steady State, and (last I checked) it's free.
If they are saying they need to see your computer screen at all times, well, that's not okay in my book. It's your laptop, and if you want to play Solitaire, that's your business. If they are trying to restrict network access, then they can, but that might not be what they're doing.
However, I will say this, they certainly have a right to control traffic on their network, especially since you get access for free. But having you "register" your personal laptop, which I assume means install spying software on it, well, that seems unnecessary and quite honestly, intrusive. It's pretty simple to set up OpenDNS to block access to certain sites on your network, and you don't need special software to do it, other than the firmware that's already on their network routers. Their IT guy can certainly figure out how to do that. Schools and industries should stop using overly complex software, and realize there are often simpler ways of doing things. For instance, you don't need complex third-party software to stop people from saving things to a public computer, especially when Microsoft already offers software that does just that. It's called Windows Steady State, and (last I checked) it's free.
If they are saying they need to see your computer screen at all times, well, that's not okay in my book. It's your laptop, and if you want to play Solitaire, that's your business. If they are trying to restrict network access, then they can, but that might not be what they're doing.
If it's only while you're at the school, they are entirely permitted to and it is perfectly reasonable.
It's their network, they can do whatever they like with the terminals operating within it. So long as they're not directly accessing private login areas (Like those associated with Facebook etc) with no relation to the network and its computers. Then it's getting into trouble.
yep, they are allowed to in the USA.
While they can't read your emails (unless its a school email account), mess with your posts, or hack your stuff, they can block and or monitor as much as they want.
and i should also mention that SCHOOL AND BUSINESS PROVIDED EMAILS ARE NOT PRIVATE. if ur school or business gives you an email address, they have a right to read everything sent from and to it at will.
While they can't read your emails (unless its a school email account), mess with your posts, or hack your stuff, they can block and or monitor as much as they want.
and i should also mention that SCHOOL AND BUSINESS PROVIDED EMAILS ARE NOT PRIVATE. if ur school or business gives you an email address, they have a right to read everything sent from and to it at will.
Well they're actually allowed to do that, but the thing you can really defend against is how they take away your mobiles for a week. That's impossibly entirely legal.
Well they're actually allowed to do that, but the thing you can really defend against is how they take away your mobiles for a week. That's impossibly entirely legal.
Well they're actually allowed to do that, but the thing you can really defend against is how they take away your mobiles for a week. That's impossibly entirely legal.
There's two sides to this. Firstly, in your favour, you have a right for your data and communications not to be snooped on. If you were to use one of their phones, that would not entitle them to listen in on it.
However, they could stop you calling premium lines and abroad, as this incurs cost to them. For similar reasons, they may end up traffic shaping and blocking some sites with typically high bandwidth profiles. Similarly, they may want to restrict content to keep usage down , as it is a shared service that could be impaired by allowing everyone to access high-demand high-use type websites, such as facebook. Incurring costs isn't really something that'd (directly) effect providing internet access, only how well the service is provided to many individuals.
I thin with many countries declaring access to the internet to be an intrinsic human right (or at least something close to that), this does make me wonder what kind of access that means. All humans have a right to use facebook? Maybe... I think the intention is more that all humans have the right to use wikipedia, or email, or many of the wonderful enabling technologies and services available through it, and arguably social networks can have a positive effects too. However, that right is mostly served by internet being available 'freely' at libraries and schools... places where it may be time limited and content restricted. Arguably they are not providing the unfettered access you may have a right to- are they obliged to do so?
Ultimately, using such things during class is counter to education and I certainly think they have a right to manage your behaviour and keep you focused on studying during classes and study breaks. However, in your recreational time, I'd argue they have no such rights. However, you have no such rights to demand they provided facebook at all if they had no internet, so there's a false sense of entitlement when you're provided with some restricted internet (or people circumvent those restrictions).
Ultimately, if you need facebook, get a phone with a data connection (that can act as a hotspot, if you want to hookup your laptop), and only use it outside of class. Hell, if you're feeling enterprising, offer up your phone hotspot to other people for a nominal charge (20p/cents) and you may end up covering a fair chunk of your phone bill too. As long as you're using it responsibly and outside of class, I'd fight tooth and nail for your right to do so.
However, they could stop you calling premium lines and abroad, as this incurs cost to them. For similar reasons, they may end up traffic shaping and blocking some sites with typically high bandwidth profiles. Similarly, they may want to restrict content to keep usage down , as it is a shared service that could be impaired by allowing everyone to access high-demand high-use type websites, such as facebook. Incurring costs isn't really something that'd (directly) effect providing internet access, only how well the service is provided to many individuals.
I thin with many countries declaring access to the internet to be an intrinsic human right (or at least something close to that), this does make me wonder what kind of access that means. All humans have a right to use facebook? Maybe... I think the intention is more that all humans have the right to use wikipedia, or email, or many of the wonderful enabling technologies and services available through it, and arguably social networks can have a positive effects too. However, that right is mostly served by internet being available 'freely' at libraries and schools... places where it may be time limited and content restricted. Arguably they are not providing the unfettered access you may have a right to- are they obliged to do so?
Ultimately, using such things during class is counter to education and I certainly think they have a right to manage your behaviour and keep you focused on studying during classes and study breaks. However, in your recreational time, I'd argue they have no such rights. However, you have no such rights to demand they provided facebook at all if they had no internet, so there's a false sense of entitlement when you're provided with some restricted internet (or people circumvent those restrictions).
Ultimately, if you need facebook, get a phone with a data connection (that can act as a hotspot, if you want to hookup your laptop), and only use it outside of class. Hell, if you're feeling enterprising, offer up your phone hotspot to other people for a nominal charge (20p/cents) and you may end up covering a fair chunk of your phone bill too. As long as you're using it responsibly and outside of class, I'd fight tooth and nail for your right to do so.
Yeah they are allowed, and yes it is an over-complicated system when they could just restrict access to certain sites via their internet.
My college implemented a filtered internet wifi and a large block list on its local computers. Seems reasonable, can't have students accessing gentleman material or wasting time since we go to college to learn.
Still found ways to plant Unreal Tournament and LAN up a whole block for a tournament though.
Still found ways to plant Unreal Tournament and LAN up a whole block for a tournament though.